Rosberg: I apologise to Lewis and the team

Nico Rosberg has apologised to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes after admitting fault for the contact at the start of last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Rosberg clipped the back of Hamilton's Mercedes and the resulting contact left the Brit with a puncture, while Rosberg went on to finish in second place to extend his championship lead to 29 points.

Rosberg held clear the air talks with Hamilton and senior Mercedes management on Friday morning and took to his own Facebook page to publish a personal apology.

'In the days since the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened during the race and discussing it with the team', he said.

'I have already expressed my regret about the incident but, after meeting with Toto [Wolff], Paddy [Lowe] and Lewis today, I wish to go a step further and describe it as error of judgement on my part.

'The number one rule for us as team-mates is that we must not collide but that is exactly what happened. For that error of judgment, I apologise to Lewis and the team. I also want to say sorry to the fans who were deprived of our battle for the lead in Belgium.

'Lewis and I have been given clear instructions about how we race each other.

'As drivers, we have a clear responsibility to the team, the fans of the sport, our partners and Mercedes-Benz to deliver clean racing. We take that responsibility very seriously.

'I look forward to concluding the season with hard, fair competition on and off track right up to the final lap of the season in Abu Dhabi.'